A gentle beauty - for Country View Crafts

Well it is the first of a new month and therefore a new challenge over at Country View Crafts and the theme this month is shabby chic chosen by the very talented Astrid.  
Now I went for neutrals which will come as no surprise to many of you I am sure and a very vintage feel for my shabby chic project number one, I will be back later in the month with another offering..so without further ramblings here is my make :

I started by covering a square piece of Mdf with some old music paper and then covering with picket fence distress stain to soften the music . After this I layered a piece of calico and then a piece of music ( from my vintage stash) - I chose this piece because of the crinkled and scuffed edges...love the texture .

I covered the sides of the mdf piece in tissue tape, gluing it into place to ensure it did not come off.

For the focal point of the piece I used one of my stash of vintage photos an encased her inside one of Tim Holtz cabinet cards, scuffing the edges to give it a worn feel.

I just love her ... the gentle look in her eyes ... I added some flowers made using tattered floral die with centres of rolled flowers..that sadly I bought as I have not mastered how to make these :( .

I added another at the top to balance the composition , complete  with some smaller flowers

I left this piece of writing alongside the photo.. as I liked it ..

To complete the shabby feel I added some lace layers and some dyed seam binding all in my adored neutrals..

and a metal idea-ology embellishment , coloured lightly with antique linen paint.

A couple of mother of pearl buttons complete this shabby chic feel piece... 

Make sure you hop across to the countryviewcrafts challenge blog to see lots more inspiration from my team mates and remember you have a whole month to join in the fun..

keep those fingers inky! trace x